It’s time we talked about the international divide at Warwick

Often unconsciously, we split up according to our nationalities. No matter how keen some are on advocating a Warwick spirit that stems in lack of prejudice and open mindedness, there is and always has been a distinct division between ‘the internationals’ and British students.

Odds are that by the time you’ve reached your second year of university, you will have heard the phrase “but that’s where all the internationals go out”. You might have even said it yourself, and whether or not we’re aware of it, there’s a growing ‘us’ and ‘them’ mentality which is plaguing some university circles.

There are 9,363 international students at Warwick out of a total of 24,683, and yet we don’t mix and seem to keep encouraging this divisive attitude, without seeing it from the other camp’s perspective.

Different cultural upbringings

Speaking from an Eastern European point of view, I know that I can come across as excessively forward or maybe even aggressive in the way that I speak. I’ve had many of my British friends point out in the initial stages of our friendships statements like “you guys are very direct, we’re just not used to that”.

What characterises the British way of interaction is a form of restraint that is unlike any other nationality – where Brits will smile politely and hold back from offering negative feedback, other nationalities will be open about it; where a British person will get annoyed but wait until they’re chatting to their mates to trash their annoying housemate, a Spanish, Italian or Romanian might bring it up openly.

Arguably, some nationalities, and I speak from experience, have a short temper and we will more often than not speak without thinking, but that shouldn’t make a Brit avoid contact with us because we’re “too in your face”. What you see is what you get – yes we’re sometimes loud, yes we lack the PC filter that has been ingrained in the British culture, but that also means that you can take our actions and words at face value.

It’s not to say that there’s something wrong with your culture and upbringing just because you’re in the habit of holding back and not being as direct as your international housemate about those disgusting dishes that have been in the sink for too long. It should be understandable that each culture and each individual, have a different approach to conflicts.

The partying

If there’s one thing that divides the home and international students, it’s the nights out. Again though, we all have different definitions of fun, so why has complaining about this become such a thing?

Every night out seems to have already received a nationality stamp and the reason for that is pretty simple: we have different ways of flirting, different reasons for going out, different tastes in music. While the rave culture hasn’t really expanded in many other countries, it’s booming in England. So if the majority of international students might flock to last year’s infamous Toast, home students might prefer Bootsncats.

That’s not to say either of those are bad nights out, because they aren’t – it just boils down to your individual expectations and to your understanding of the cultures you’re surrounded by.

The fashion

Don’t you just love judging someone based on their appearance? More often than not, I’ll hear the phrase “I bet he’s an international, he’s so well dressed!” or anything among the lines of it.

If you think that French girl in your class is too posh or unapproachable just because she’s comfortable in her brand new Zara coat, or if you think the Brit in your seminar is too cool simply because of his oversized puffy Supreme jacket, you might want to tone down your superficiality and just accept that every culture comes with a different aesthetic.

If you’re a British student annoyed with the apparent patronising nature of ‘the internationals’, keep an open mind and understand that you can’t really blame us for not being able to fit in with such a different culture all of a sudden. Even though many of us do try and even though we might not assimilate the British culture, we’ll be accepting of it. In turn however, please also accept and understand ours.

Likewise, if you’re a foreign student sticking to your same nationality group, consistently speaking your own language even in front of dozens of others, don’t be shocked if that might come across as cliquey, so maybe keep that in mind next time you complain about not being able to fit in.